Search results

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it seeks to voice the concerns of educated youth in Egypt as they describe their work options and preferences. Second, it seeks to highlight the gravity of the policy gap in addressing work informality, drawing on some of the international experience in this field.


Design/methodology/approach
– Qualitative research in the form of in-depth interviews, desk-review of policies, and descriptive statistical analysis of a recent national survey of labour in Egypt.


Findings
– A large proportion of educated youth work within the realm of informality and there is a clear policy gap in addressing this issue. Contrary to what would be expected, young people value access to social security and work stability. They face systemic hurdles related to access to such benefits. Because of the legacy of guaranteed government hiring of the educated in Egypt, young people express a great appreciation of work in the government, for virtually being the only employer offering job stability and social security in the labour market.


Research limitations/implications
– This paper addresses a gap in the literature on youth employment in Egypt, where there is a dearth of research focusing on the lived experience of employment precariousness. The majority of studies in this field relies on statistics with little qualitative research voicing the views of this group.


Practical implications
– Reforms are more urgent than timely to extend social security and other measures of social protection to workers within the informal economy.


Originality/value
– The paper builds on primary data and provides insights about the way educated youth perceive their working conditions and options. The paper also provides a discussion of the social security system in Egypt, its coverage, and possible reform approaches.

PurposeThe purpose of this editorial is to provide an overview of the wider debates concerning the evolution of work‐life balance practice and policy since the onset of the "Great Recession" of 2008 and to draw out some comparisons of the issues raised by the papers in the special issue by focusing particularly on the example of the UK.Design/methodology/approachThe editorial analyses how the direction and pace of changes in work‐life balance practice and policy varies between different national contexts and welfare regimes and also asks whether, within the same national context, the changes taking place are always consistent.FindingsThe special issue draws together an international overview of work‐life balance measures which focuses particularly on measures for fathers, an EU‐wide analysis of the use of flexible employment and its relationship with work‐family conflict and a number of specific country case studies from Southern Europe where recession has been particularly severe (Spain and Italy) and the Southern hemisphere (Australia) where the recession has been less deep. It finds that economic crisis and austerity have resulted in a variety of labour market changes and policy responses in different national settings, some but not all of which map onto existing welfare regime typologies. The articles raise a wider set of questions about what type of policy best promotes employees' work‐life balance. The editorial argues in favour of legislative support for work‐life balance to help address structural inequalities.Originality/valueThis editorial and special issue is one of the first to review the small but growing literature on the effect of recession on individuals' experience of work‐life balance, organisations' approach to work‐life balance and reconciliation policy since 2008.

Most of the literature on the World Bank struggles to understand precisely how effective are the Bank's projects and policies, emphasizing at the same time as reaffirming certain universal parameters with which to measure the good and the bad. This article, by contrast, argues for a different way of seeing the World Bank, that is, for scholarship that interrogates the political rationalities which underlie these distinctions and categories and which make these parameters and measures viable, necessary, and enduring. Indeed, most writings – including the innumerable self‐evaluations carried out by the Bank – simultaneously note the enormity of the Bank's past misdeeds as well as its unique position as the only global institution up to the monumental task of translating global truths into global plans of action. Because of its unique role as the global development expert, the Bank is always two steps ahead of the pack, always re‐assessing and re‐tooling for improvement in ways that most national and international institutions cannot. Who else can respond so quickly to catastrophes around the globe – appearing one month in Thailand, the next in Argentina, and, in a bomb's flash, in Afghanistan and Iraq? In a world in which global crises routinely erupt and "require" global experts of development to resolve them, the Bank and its affiliates in the World Bank Group have no rivals. But, rather than ask why the Bank's responses are ultimately insufficient or flawed, we must first ask how problems get defined in terms of global crises and their solutions in terms of global development institutions in the first place? How did these ideas and institutions become so influential? What power dynamics do they embody?

East Asian industrializations and the crisis of Latin American developmentalism in the 1970s and 1980s have been at the center of disputes over the conditions leading to a socially optimal extension and intensification of capitalist production relations in the periphery. The contrast in regional styles and outcomes of development is deemed to be the key to a final adjudication between the competing analytical claims of neoclassical economists and statist currents within political economy. Neoclassical critiques of excessive Latin American tampering with markets find confirmation for neoliberal prescriptions in the open, export‐oriented East Asian regimes. That East Asian development is not a paragon of neoliberal virtue, and that relatively freer markets might not be the most important part of the story, is the crux of the enduring statist critique. Over a decade of contestation has given way to significant refinements, among them, a recognition of the importance of sequencing import‐and export‐substitution. The modicum of foresight and discipline that seems to be implied in proper sequencing has weighed in favor of the statist emphasis on the role of 'developmental states.' Even researchers disposed to enshrine the virtues of markets in the process of modernization, find it difficult not to concede that the East Asian record rests on more than macroeconomic stability; although they remain skeptical about the cruder claims of states successfully 'picking winners and losers' (Dollar and Sokoloff 1994). Perhaps the most enduring legacy of this controversy—only extreme zealots could deny this—is the mounting empirical evidence supporting the argument that economic development is an inherently discontinuous process, and reliance on the market institution leaves societies woefully unprepared to 'negotiate' through an unstable and asymmetrical international political economy.

The dynamic presence and intensification of tourism has created several negative environmental impacts and have made it one of the industries with the widest range of environmental pressures, calling for a more sustainable course in the future. In this article, in order to respond to the increasing level of environmental concerns of tourists, as well as to the new economic environment, several initiatives as well as environmental management systems (EMSs) are developed for tourism enterprises. EMS applications offer several benefits to the committed organizations, however, the lack of resources and knowledge often poses difficulties in developing and sustaining international EMS. The tourism industry includes two main activities: housing and transportation. The present article concerns housing and its impact on the environment. It also addresses the factors that influence corporate environmental management by identifying the motives and benefits, as well as the difficulties in improving the environmental performance of hotels. The article focuses on Greece and more specifically on the Region of Crete. The article has been based on a questionnaire survey, while the results and conclusions have been based on statistical analysis of the collected information.

La dimension cognitive constitue un élément essentiel des politiques de conservation de la biodiversité. Depuis trois décennies, les Conventions internationales et la multiplication des formes d'actions publiques en faveur du vivant ont suscité des besoins en matière de données naturalistes fiables et standardisées. Cette entreprise de quantification se traduit par la mise en place de systèmes d'information. L'objet de cette communication est d'apporter des éléments de réflexion sur ces dispositifs à la fois du point de vue de leurs contenus cognitifs et normatifs, des réseaux d'acteurs qu'ils tissent et des effets qu'ils produisent. Nous voudrions montrer qu'au-delà des objectifs revendiqués de faciliter l'accès aux données, ces dispositifs ont pour effet de reconfigurer les légitimités et les formes de pouvoir et dans le même temps d'orienter les actions des producteurs de données en particulier des associations naturalistes qui figurent parmi les principaux fournisseurs d'information sur la nature, en France. Ajoutons enfin, le rôle performatif de ces dispositifs qui participent d'une construction du réel et de la biodiversité. Cette recherche fondée sur une approche socio-anthropologique s'appuiera sur l'examen de dispositifs d'information régionaux, avec le souci de replacer ces initiatives dans un contexte national et européen.

Current regulatory guidelines require the ethical review committee to consider one question when evaluating payment: Is the payment to the participant undue or coercive? Although this is a seemingly simple question, determining appropriate payment involves a series of complex issues. There is limited empirical knowledge to assist with this determination and little consensus on which elements of a study should be considered in making these decisions. For example, should the culture of the study population or the potential risks and benefits of the research be considered in the selection of appropriate payment? Following a review of national and international guidelines, the concerns and benefits of paying research participants are presented, and prior ethical debate is outlined. The current research literature on the practice of paying participants and the impact of payment on participants and study integrity are reviewed. Finally, given continued debate with limited data to help determine best practices, a research agenda is proposed to assist in the development of an empirical basis to aid investigators and ethical review committees in making appropriate decisions about payment to research participants.

This article analyzes the relevance of family ties for the recruitment of chief executives - presidents or prime ministers - with special emphasis on gender. Based on a cross-national data-set examining political chief executives from 2000-2017 in five world regions (Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and North America), we test several hypotheses and present four main results. First, belonging to a political family (BPF), is an advantage to entering national executive positions around the world, for both democracies and non-democracies. Among those with a sizeable number of executives in this period, regions range from 9 percent (Africa) to 13 percent (Latin America and Europe) of executives BPF. Second, executives' family ties are more powerful (with a previous chief executive) in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and more direct (with an immediate family member) in Asia and Africa. Across the globe, women only made up 6% of chief executives in the time period. Third, females who manage to become chief executives are more often BPF than their male counterparts, particularly in Asia and Latin America. Fourth, regardless of region, family ties nearly always originate from men, not women.

Based on the understanding that modern democracies must be representative and that this is not only necessary but also desirable, this paper exploits a unique data set which makes comparisons of citizens and their parliamentary representatives on a number of dimensions possible at two points in time (roughly six years apart). The data allows us to comparatively evaluate three dimensions of congruence: ideology, economic policy, and democratic values. We have found that the levels of congruence for the first two dimensions is remarkably high while the popular demand for democracy is significantly lagging behind. Finally, we have failed to demonstrate a positive correlation between quality of democracy and levels of congruence.

Ausgehend von verschiedenen Auffassungen über Modelle der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der Länder von primär landwirtschaftlichen über Industrie- zu Dienstleistungsstrukturen wird die Herausbildung des Dienstleistungssektors in den Niederlanden und in Deutschland (1882 bis 1982) verglichen. Interessant sind diese beiden Länder nach Meinung der Autoren dabei vor allem, weil die Niederlande als Handelsnation bekannt sind, während sich in Deutschland im 19. Jahrhundert eine rapide Industrialisierung vollzog. (IAB)

YÖK Tez No: 604029 ; Enerji güvenliği, tüketici ülkelerin, makul fiyatlardan, farklı kaynaklardan ve sürdürülebilir bir şekilde arz güvenliklerinin sağlanması olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Jeopolitik istikrarsızlıklar, doğal afetler, terörizm veya yatırım eksikliği gibi nedenler bir ülkenin enerji güvenliği boyutunda sorun yaşamasına neden olabilmektedir. Bu nedenle, devletler enerji arz güvenliklerini sağlamak için farklı stratejiler geliştirmektedirler. Enerji güvenliği, özellikle hidrokarbon kaynakları bakımından zengin olan Ortadoğu için oldukça önemli bir kavram olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, Ortadoğu'nun en önemli ülkelerinden biri olan İran'ın Soğuk Savaş sonrası dış politikası enerji güvenliği bağlamında ele alınacaktır. Soğuk Savaş'ın bitmesiyle iki kutuplu sistemin sona ermesi, Humeyni'nin vefatı ve ABD'nin Irak müdahalesi gibi küresel etkileri olan olayların meydana gelmesi, İran dış politikasında önemli değişikliklere neden olmuştur. İran'ın coğrafi konumu ve zengin yeraltı kaynakları, bu olaylardan sonra enerji güvenliğinin dış politikada daha önemli bir faktör olarak yer almasına neden olmuştur. Özellikle İran'ın nükleer enerji çalışmaları, uluslararası gündemi ve İran dış politikasını meşgul eden en önemli konulardan biri olmuştur. Soğuk Savaş sonrası şekillenen yeni uluslararası sistemde enerji güvenliği, İran dış politikası açısından her geçen gün daha fazla önem kazanan bir parametre haline gelmiştir. Enerji güvenliğinin, İran'ın dış politikası açısından stratejik önemini koruyacağı tahmin edilmektedir. ; Energy security is defined as the supply security of consumer countries at reasonable prices, from different sources and in a sustainable manner. Reasons such as geopolitical instability, natural disasters, terrorism or lack of investment can cause a problem in terms of a country's energy security. For this reason, governments are developing different strategies to ensure energy supply security. Energy security is a very important concept especially for the Middle East which is rich in hydrocarbon resources. In this study, post-Cold War foreign policy of Iran, which is one of the most important countries in the Middle East, will be discussed within the context of energy security. The end of the bipolar system with the end of the Cold War, the death of Khomeini and the occurrence of internationally influential events, such as the US intervention in Iraq, caused significant changes in Iranian foreign policy. Iran's geographical location and rich resources have made energy security a more important factor in foreign policy after these developments. Particularly, Iran's nuclear energy efforts have been one of the most important issues that preoccupied the international agenda and Iranian foreign policy. Energy security has become an increasingly important parameter for Iranian foreign policy in the new international system shaped after the Cold War. Energy security is expected to maintain its strategic importance in terms of Iran's foreign policy.

The free movement of goods promotes cross-border transactions. Computerization of services and intensified use of the Internet also contribute to the development of trade within the EU. Problems that could once be addressed almost exclusively or at least prevailingly at a national level currently assume cross-border character. This is also true in the case of regulation of unfair competition and unfair commercial practices. Whereas the substantive regulation of unfair competition in both EU and domestic law is quite common in scientific literature, its aspects in private international law are often neglected. Since the EU law has to a large extent replaced national conflict-of-law and procedural rules with unified EU provisions, this article focuses on the EU regulations Rome II and Brussels I bis with the emphasis put on the latter. The aim of this article is to review the rules determining jurisdiction (and the applicable law) on the basis of legal doctrine, current legislation and case law of the Court of Justice of the EU. Attention also will be paid to both off-line and on-line situations, as well as to the specifics of consumer protection in the context of unfair competition and unfair commercial practices ; The free movement of goods promotes cross-border transactions. Computerization of services and intensified use of the Internet also contribute to the development of trade within the EU. Problems that could once be addressed almost exclusively or at least prevailingly at a national level currently assume cross-border character. This is also true in the case of regulation of unfair competition and unfair commercial practices. Whereas the substantive regulation of unfair competition in both EU and domestic law is quite common in scientific literature, its aspects in private international law are often neglected. Since the EU law has to a large extent replaced national conflict-of-law and procedural rules with unified EU provisions, this article focuses on the EU regulations Rome II and Brussels I bis with the emphasis put on the latter. The aim of this article is to review the rules determining jurisdiction (and the applicable law) on the basis of legal doctrine, current legislation and case law of the Court of Justice of the EU. Attention also will be paid to both off-line and on-line situations, as well as to the specifics of consumer protection in the context of unfair competition and unfair commercial practices